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One-tenth of a second is all that kept the record books at Creekside High School from reading like the biography of Evan Jacob.

“Evan was quite upset about that,” Creekside coach Tracy Reed joked. “He wanted to leave with all the school records.”

The 1/10th of a second difference belonged to teammate Drew Booher, who broke Jacob’s record in the 100-yard backstroke with a sterling performance at the regional meet. So school records in six of seven individual events, three relay records and his second consecutive St. Augustine Record Boys Swimmer of the Year honor will have to suffice for Jacob.

Not a bad consolation prize for a quiet guy who had to take more of a leadership role over his final two seasons in high school.

“A little intimidating (to be the focal point of the team), but a pretty fun experience I’d say,” Jacob said. “The last two years I’ve been a captain, so I’ve been a little more active. I’m quiet in groups of people; with friends I’m more loud. It’s not the easiest thing for me (to be a vocal leader). But I was one of the only seniors on the team, so it was kind of necessary.”

Jacob said that he’s always had pretty solid goals to aim for, largely because of former teammate Zach Lowe, the original recordholder in every event at Creekside. The two competed together for a couple years in high school, and Jacob knew that he’d have to continue an upward arc if he wanted to reach Lowe’s level by the time he was done with high school.

“He was just like the top dog on the team,” Jacob said of Lowe. “As a freshman and sophomore, he drove me to go faster. Once he left, I was looking to take his records.”

Reed said that it was obvious from the competitive rivalry that Jacob was on a path for great things at Creekside.

“We joked after (Evan’s) freshman year, that all the records Zach set, Evan would end up breaking them,” she said.

And he did.

Jacob now owns records in the 200 individual medley, the 200 freestyle, the 50 free, 100 butterfly, 500 fly and 100 breaststroke. He’s even willing to overlook the one event in the record book that doesn’t include his name — the 100 back.

Some events, Jacob was content with just “skimming” by Lowe’s records; others, he broke by several seconds. Creekside’s Meghan Halia, also The Record’s top girls swimmer, said that Jacob did for the rest of the Knights exactly what Lowe did for Jacob years ago. He brought a high level of production to the program and challenged teammates to raise their production.

“That was a great thing (to compete against him),” Halia said. “Usually at morning practices, it was always ‘all right, let’s see how close we can get on this one.’ He’s got so much talent; he will definitely be missed.”

Jacob’s signature event is the 200 individual medley, which he finished third in at the Class 2A state championship. His time of 1 minute, 53.80 seconds was even more impressive considering that Jacob took a year off from the event to hone his skills in other areas.

To put into perspective how solid Jacob was in that event at the end of his career, consider that he shaved 37 seconds from his time in the event from when he was a freshman. And he didn’t even compete in the 200 IM as a junior, shaking up his events to work on getting better in others. Jacob was sixth in the 100 IM as a junior.

Reed said Jacob was so strong in every event that he tried, that it didn’t matter if he took weeks off or a year off. He could jump right back in the lineup and pick up where he left off.

“Most of my swimming, it was about knowing that I’m progressing,” Jacob said. “I had huge time drops (in his career) and just got more experience in different events.”